Rebuilding the relationship between the Police and the Communities that they serve one voice at a time.

Martin County, Fl. Deputy saves woman in runway Pick up truck

70-year-old Dianne Cohoon called 911 in a crisis situation when she couldn’t get her 1989 Pickup truck to stop on State Route 710 in Indiantown of Martin County. Deputies raced to her aid, one in particular being instrumental in saving not only her life but untold others.

“I cannot stop the truck. I cannot get it below 45 MPH. I have 1/8 of a tank left, I’ve been trying to run it out, I’ve got to make it through Indiantown without killing anybody and I’m scared,” 70-year-old Dianne Cohoon told 911 dispatchers in a frantic voice.

Deputies responded from everywhere attempting to stop the flow of traffic and give the woman a clear road to travel on so that accidents did not occur as Deputy Steve Beatty followed her trying to come to a decision how to stop her vehicle without endangering anyone. He finally made the only decision available to him, he engaged in a PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver bringing Cohoon’s vehicle to a stop against the guard rails without causing anyone injury.

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told WPTV in a statement: “Other units were trying to get traffic ahead of her out of the way. They were trying to shut off lanes. She was coming in to an area where we couldn’t have done anything with all of the traffic and she was destined to have an accident, He had to make a decision, really a life or death situation, It’s not in anyway an over statement to say there’s a good possibility he saved her life, somebody else’s life or at least serious bodily injury,”

Some tense moments for an elderly driver who was unable to stop her pick-up truck as it was traveling 45-miles per hour along SR710 in Indiantown.

The 70-year old driver called 911 to say her brakes were not working, and she was unable to pull the key out of the ignition. Deputy Steve Beatty began communicating with the woman on the phone, as he tried to direct her on how to stop the truck, however, all efforts failed. At one point the driver was able to remove the keys, but the engine stayed on and the truck continued to move. In addition, the truck began to smoke. As a last resort, Deputy Beatty strategically performed a PIT maneuver on the vehicle, successfully disabling the truck just before the roadway narrowed to one lane for construction work.

The driver was anxious, but uninjured thanks to the heroic efforts of Deputy Beatty. Great job.